Deus Ex Machina
by DanishCookie
Summary: Following the end of the Great War, the Rookie finds himself attached to a UNSC clean-up battlegroup. But during a particular battle , he is hit by the cannon of a Banshee. He should be dead, but the Rookie lands somewhere life did not intend him to, and now he has to thrust his odds of survival into a rag-tag team with one goal: To defeat the Reapers, and any of their followers.
1. Chapter 1

_**Authors Note: Hey, guys. Welcome to the first chapter of "Deus Ex Machina," a Halo—Mass Effect crossover centered on the ODST Rookie.**_

_**This is not technically my first story, but I consider it my first, as my actual first crashed and burned. I think I took it off the site, can't remember. But since I'm relatively new to this whole new writing scheme, I do bid you to forgive me of any grammatical, technical, etc. mistakes you come across, and point them out to me. I'm fond of constructive criticism, and definitely need it. So please, help me with my writing.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not actually own any Halo games besides Halo PC, as I am a Halo gamer. I still occasionally play them with friends, but the only source of knowledge on the Halo universe is gathered from other stories on this site, and the various wikis. So PLEASE. Point out any mistakes you come across, and I'll be happy to fix them. However, any sort of blatant insults and trolling will NOT be tolerated.**_

_**DanishCookie with your story, comin' up right now!**_

Abcdef: Regular narrative.

_Abcdef_: Stressed terms or phrases, etc.

"Abcdef": Regular conversation.

"_Abcdef"_: A character's thoughts, or onomatopoeia. You can tell the difference, right?

Chapter 1

The Black of Night

First Sergeant Edward Buck jogged through the neat, utilitarian hallways of the Marathon-Class Cruiser, _Evocatus._ Named for the groups of Ancient Roman soldiers that had served their time, yet reenlisted voluntarily, it seemed apropos that it held a battalion of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers like himself, most of which had somehow managed to survive through the Great War. Right now, the ship was orbiting the planet Beta Centauri, where a contingent of Covenant Remnants where holding out, entrenched and awaiting the invasion ahead. The _Evocatus_ was attached to the recently formed Task Force 319, one of the various battle groups dedicated to finding and eliminating various Covenant Remnants. A task Buck was glad to be a part of.

The Great War itself had been over for a year, and the UNSC, along with the Sangheili, were cleaning up nicely. Humanity itself was recovering, and HIGHCOM was hoping to begin the process of terra-forming its glassed colonies soon. There was still a lot of tension between the Covenant Separatists, now the Union of Sovereign Species, and the UNSC. After Buck's own experience in the war, he felt it was unsurprising. They HAD tried to destroy humanity, after all. Things like that didn't go away immediately, surprisingly enough.

Buck himself was now returning from debriefing, hurrying along to tell his own squad the plan. Most of them had survived the war—scratch that; ALL of them had survived the war.

Except Mickey.

In a raging skirmish the take back Circinius IV from Covenant hands, Mickey had been hit in the neck by the hands of a Kig-Yar sniper. He died instantly, and the squad had had no chance whatsoever to say their goodbyes to their squad-mate, compatriot, and ultimately, friend. They could only mourn. Mickey was soon replaced by an intelligent, small trooper by the name of Lucy Stillworth. The squad had tried to warm up to the newcomer, even going as far as to nickname her "Sparks." But frankly, their attempted welcome was half-hearted. Mickey's death was far too recent. Buck was originally devastated by the loss under his own command, but he had to stow it for the sake of his squad. Romeo and Dutch were affected likewise, but the stoic Veronica Dare had appeared unaffected, if not a bit saddened. But Buck knew better. Having known her for an eternity, Buck knew that Veronica was mourning Mickey internally. But as an ONI spook, emotions like that were uncommon. Rookie on the other hand…

The silent, skilled trooper was hard to read. He rarely spoke, and his files were even covered in black ink. He suspected he had post-traumatic vocal disarticulation, but he wasn't sure. But he was still obviously affected by Mickey's passing, speaking even less and…sleeping more, if that was anything to go by. But he wasn't the newest man in the squad anymore. Lucy was. Still, the nickname stuck, and that was all they knew J**** D*** by.

Jogging into the drop-pod bay, Buck quickly spotted his squad by their own little section of HEVs. Romeo and Dutch were conversing, likely arguing about some inane topic. Veronica was reading some sort datapad, Sparks was sitting on a bench, inspecting her BR55, colloquially termed as the "Battle-Rifle," and Rookie was…sleeping in his HEV. Buck suspected as much.

"Alright, guys, listen up! Command wants us up and ready for a hot drop in ten minutes! We're to land near a Covvie supply depot and take out a couple of AA guns. The rest of the battalion is doing the same. It's the same ole' bish bosh, take out the guns so the Pelicans can land. You guys know the drill. Gear up, prep your pods, and can somebody wake Rookie the hell up?"

Romeo walked over to Rookie's pod, grabbing his pistol as he went. Lightly smacking Rookie on the knee, he grinned.

"Wake up, butter cup. We're dropping in ten. Make sure you don't doze off on the way down. Wouldn't want them apes finding you snoring in that little box of yours, would you?"

The Rookie slowly looked up, gathering his bearings and stretching. He checked the electronic watch ingrained behind a panel on his left gauntlet. _30 minutes._ "_I've been asleep for 30 minutes. A new record for me."_ Looking back up, the Rookie could see the rest of his squad gathering their various firearms and helmets, obviously preparing for the oncoming drop. He decided to stay awake, yet idle. It gave him time to think. He spotted his weapons, and jogged over to grab them. His familiar M7S, his companion throughout all these times, and a new SRS 99D sniper rifle he decided to grab from the onboard armory. He had grown fond of it, being a skilled marksman. Picking the guns up and returning them to his pod, he attached them to the magnetic clamps. Sitting down, he picked a spot in the room and stared through his polarized helmet, thinking.

_10 Minutes Later_

"Troopers, saddle up and wait for drop, command wants us ready yesterday! Move it, troopers! Your grandmothers could move faster than your feet right now, and you're evidence of it! The pods won't wait! Double time!"

The resident CO of the ODSTs screamed out various insults and orders, and black-garbed troopers were sprinting about, getting in their HEVs and awaiting the drop. The Rookie's head snapped up, shaking. Despite all his efforts, he had _still_ fallen asleep. Tucking himself in the pod, the Rookie watched the hatch lower. He opened his radio to his squad, waiting for Buck's words. His face appeared on one of the panels in the interior.

"Alright, guys. We'll be dropping in an area full of covvies, so watch out. Nothing helljumpers can't handle though, eh?" Buck motioned with his hands for something in his pod, then resumed. "Since Sparks is the newest member, and the lowest ranked at Lance Corporal, I want her in the rear once we regroup. Dutch, you take point. The rest of us will follow. I'll transmit the drop coordinates in a second, they're all really close to each other. Pods are moving, let's get read y for the launch. Buck's helmet disappeared from view, and the Rookie sighed. This would just be another drop, another skirmish. Another fight.

A countdown timer appeared on the other panel, reading off the seconds until the HEVs would be dropped from orbit. As it reached zero, the pod lurched, then a loud "_crack!"_ sounded off as his HEV was launched from the bowels of the _Evocatus._ The Rookie could see the planet below, as well as the hundreds of other pods being launched from his ship, as well as others. The quickly entered the atmosphere, and standard procedure was followed. Adjusting courses, reading off any anomalies, firing off the 'chutes. It was all normal for an ODST. The surface of the planet was rapidly approaching, and the Rookie attached his sniper rifle to a clamp on his back and grabbed his SMG.

_**Author's Note: For this little section, it would help IMMENSELY to imagine the battle scene of the Halo 3: ODST trailer, "We Are ODST." It's basically what I based it off.**_

It was nighttime on the surface of the planet, and banshees could already be seen flying around, trying to pick off a few of the falling pods, to no avail. Twin AA guns could be seen about a mile off, and Jiralhanae and Kig-Yar could be seen on the ground, preparing for the oncoming battle. The Rookie's pod hit the surface, and he hit the explosive bolts. Sprinting out of the HEV, the Rookie raised his SMG up, firing off a few bursts. In the corner of his eyes, he could see other ODSTs, among them his squad mates, running out of their own pods and advancing through a precarious line of fire. Still moving forwards, the Rookie fired at a couple of brutes down-range. Green and blue bolts of energy flew everywhere, accompanied by the near invisible spikes from various brutes. Yellow tracers accompanied those, and the staccato bursts of UNSC firearms filled the air, dominating the quiet _"pews"_ of energy weapons.

_Snap up, fire a couple of rounds, side-step, advance. Side-step, advance, take cover, fire a few more rounds. _There wasn't much the Rookie could do consciously in the heat of the battle. Banshees strafed through the air, launching bolts of green fuel-rod energy at the ground. In the black of night, it seemed like a light show. The Rookie continued his little procedure. It was the only thing keeping him alive. The Anti-Air guns were gradually getting closer, and with it, the end of the battle.

"Rookie, fucking take cover right now!" Buck's warning pierced the air, and the Rookie stopped abruptly. He could hear the whirring of a banshee getting uncomfortably close. He looked up, and saw a Banshee flying straight at him, it's cannon glowing green with energy.

Time slowed down as it fired it's payload. The Rookie took a small step back as the bright green pylon of energy speared it's way to him. His life flashed before his eyes, from the moment of his birth, to New Jerusalem, to Earth, to…now…

He could only close his eyes as he was hit directly by the plasma, flying backwards through the air. Oddly, he didn't feel any pain. For some reason, the noise of battle grew quieter, farther…

Was this the afterlife?

Though he still felt like he was flying through the air, the Rookie reluctantly opened his eyes. As his vision spun, he could only see amber grass, and a few rays of sunlight. A faraway voice could be heard as well, and it sounded vaguely feminine. As the Rookie landed, his vision darkened, and he could only think of one thing before he blacked out.

_What…?_

_**Author's Note: Where could the Rookie have gone? Amber grass, sunlight, a feminine grass? This isn't Beta Centauri! This isn't a battlefield! This is…?**_

_**So how do you guys like it? Is it good? Bad? Like I said, I gladly take any sort of constructive criticism, and will fix anything I need to. Feel free to leave reviews, and so long…until the next chapter!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: Hey guys, again. From the few reviews I got, it seems like you're enjoying this. That makes me feel good. :D**_

_**There are two things from the previous chapter I would like to amend before further misunderstanding occurs. In the first author's note, I said I was a Halo gamer. I meant PC Gamer, and hopefully you guys understand. In the last author's note, I also mentioned feminine grass. Another typo, I meant feminine voice. :/ As I said, I'm new to the whole publishing side of fanfic, so I thought I would wait before testing out the export feature. Maybe now I'll try it.**_

_**Here's the second chapter.**_

_**EDIT: I changed a couple things around, because frankly, they were terribly written and awkward. Be sure to check through the story again if you don't mind.**_

Chapter 2

Into the Unknown

To say that Jane Shepard's day was good would be a terrible lie.

In fact, the day was quickly proving to be ANYTHING but good. While the Normandy was leaving the docks of the Citadel, she had gotten an urgent message from the Illusive Man. Arriving at the comm room, she quickly realized that this upcoming matter was extremely important. Timmy, as she liked to call the Illusive Man behind his back, was in a very rare state of anxiety. After a relatively short debriefing, the Normandy SR-2 was headed to a remote colony in the Terminus Systems; Horizon. According to Timmy, the Collectors were there in force. They had an extremely small window of time to fly their way to the colony and gain some valuable data on the Collectors, and hopefully, stop the abductions.

Of course it couldn't be that simple.

Taking Jacob and Zaeed with her, Shepard was faced with seas of the beetle-like Collectors, and the same zombie-like husks that her previous team faced with the geth. The battle was teetering on the edge of disaster every second they were there, and Shepard's chances of saving the colony were getting slimmer and slimmer. In a last plan of action, the Normandy team had activated an array of GARDIAN batteries. It was their last chance, and they blew it. The Collectors had escaped with over half of the colony gone. And there was nothing she could do about it.

To make matters even worse, Jane Shepard's good friend and a companion on her previous adventures, Kaiden Alenko, had shown up after the Collectors had gotten away—only to rebuke her severely on her temporary truce with Cerberus. Any attempts to persuade him otherwise her swiftly ignored. In his eyes, Shepard was a traitor. Not the bright, optimistic Alliance Commander he had once known anymore. And then, as they were making their way back to the shuttle, they were ambushed several times by a few pockets of Collectors. It didn't comfort her to know that she made the Collectors abandon their own in haste.

The most recent pocket they had engaged was originally hiding in a small courtyard flanked by more of those polished, white living establishments. Seeing as a few had attempted to retreat, it was likely that there were more of these critters around. It looked like they would have to hunt down the few that remained.

Once again, it couldn't be that simple.

Lowering her rifle, Jane Shepard quickly scanned the area around her for any stragglers. It seemed there were none, so she and her squadmates were about to continue on when there was a slight hissing noise. It originated from behind her, so Shepard quickly whipped around raising her rifle again, expecting hostiles. For a few seconds, there was nothing.

Then, out of nowhere, a green cloud of _something_ appeared out of nowhere. A black figure suddenly flew out of the green cloud, flying through the air as if launched by a miniature mass relay. Jane Shepard and her squad were immediately on full combat alert, expecting some sort of new enemy to face. What she _didn't_ expect, however, was a human-like figure lying sprawled on the ground, with a sort of polarized helmet that blocked all of the features inside. Nearby were two objects that were most likely guns of a sort, though when Zaeed took a look at them, he was utterly stunned. He had never before seen weapons of those models before. A big, heavy gun that could only be some sort of anti-material rifle and in contrast a small, suppressed gun. Both were completely foreign to him, which was surprising to even the weathered mercenary himself.

Shepard turned back to the fore-figure. He was garbed in some sort of charcoal-colored armor, with multiple insignias in various locations along with chest and shoulders. In stark white, the human characters _U, N, S, _and _C_ were visible, along with a similar set of _O, D, S,_ and _T._ Racking through her brain in an attempt to remember any sort of organization that used those abbreviations, Shepard was left with no clue as to who this mysterious figure was. His helmet was slightly angled forwards, covering his entire head. His face was covered by a dark-blue visor that was clearly polarized.

"Jacob, Zaeed, any idea who this guy might be?" Jane Shepard lowered her rifle, looking down at this new figure below her.

Jacob slightly lowered his shotgun, still staring at both this new anomaly and the firearms that lay nearby. "Nah, Shepard. But whoever this guy is, he's obviously a soldier of some sort. UNSC? ODST? I'm Cerberus, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen those initials at all in our databases.

Zaeed picked up the large rifle, gauging the weight in his hands. Whistling, the veteran mercenary looked through its scope. "He might be a mercenary or something, Shepard. But I've never seen these babies before."

This surprised Shepard. Zaeed knew of every single firearm out there, as it was a part of his occupation. She was about to reply when the figure at her feet stirred.

The Rookie felt sore all over his body. Moaning quietly, he tried to remember what happened. _"Beta Centauri. Covvies. Hit directly by a Banshee's assault cannon…am I dead?" _Slowly, the Rookie opened his eyes. His vision was blurry for a second before it cleared up. The Rookie quickly saw a human female standing over him, looking a bit confused. He looked back up at her. "_Where am I, and who's this?"_

"Hey! Wake up!" The woman standing over the Rookie was talking. The Rookie involuntarily let out another groan. He caught sight of an orange blur in the corner of his vision.

Jacob was on his Omni-tool, briefly checking any obvious discrepancies on his vitals. Any real work would have to be done by Doctor Chakwas on the Normandy. "Doesn't look like he's injured, Commander. His vitals look alright, too."

Shepard offered a hand to the black-garbed man at her feet. She didn't know who he was or what he was doing, or even how he had gotten there, but he was human. Better than a Collector, at least. The Rookie grabbed it, and he was helped up. Shepard took a brief moment to contemplate the man before her.

"Alright, who are you?" the woman said. She looked like she was sizing the Rookie up.

The Rookie took a brief moment to look around. There were two other men, one of African descent and another of Caucasion. The African-American seemed to be the other one he heard, besides this "Commander." And speaking of which…

The Rookie turned back to the woman in front of him and gave him a crisp salute. Though she wasn't wearing any sort of armor he recognized, he still had to respect rank. And this woman was definitely military.

"Sergeant J**** D**, ma'am. ODST, 105th Shock Troops Division."

Shepard furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. _"By that clean a salute, he's obviously a soldier of some sort. But what's an ODST, and a Shock Troops Division? Can't be special operations, all of them are merged with N7, and I've sure as hell never heard of an ODST…"_

"At ease, Sergeant. I'm Commander Jane Shepard of the Normandy SR-2. This is Jacob, and that's Zaeed." The soldier loosened up, returning his hand to his side. "Mind telling me where you came from?"

The Rookie took a look around—and blinked at the sight in front of him. Amber and emerald grass, trees, and white, clean living pods all around. _"This isn't Beta Centauri…" _Looking back to the woman in front of him, he frowned. He didn't like talking this much. "Well, ma'am, I don't know where I am right now, but last time I checked I was on the planet Beta Centauri, fighting the Covenant."

"_Don't think I've ever heard of the planet Beta Centauri, but then again, I've only been to a handful of systems. But what's this Covenant?"_

Jacob tilted his head, his eyes showing obvious confusion. "What's the Covenant?"

The Rookie turned his head to look at the African-American. He hadn't heard of the Covenant? How was that possible? "You mean you haven't heard of—"

He was cut off as a burst of gunfire rang out, and a spray of accelerated rounds flew past Shepard's head with a _zing!_ She and Jacob scrambled off, holding up a rifle and a shotgun in their hands, respectively. Zaeed abandoned the curious guns and sprinted into cover. Entering the courtyard were a squad of Collectors. It didn't seem as if there were any left but these.

"Collectors!" Shepard cried out, ducking down behind a block of concrete.

The Rookie looked at these newcomers, these _Collectors,_ and his mind immediately clicked into full-combat mode. Spotting his MA7 and SRS 99, he ran over to them and scooped them up. Attaching the sniper rifle to the magnetic clamp on his back, he wielded the SMG in his hands. The familiar weight of the gun was comforting as he ran back up the fro, where Shepard and the others had already taken down one of the hostiles. Crouching behind a fallen wall, he checked his guns and body. _"Weapon, check. Spare mags, check. Current mag, full. Let's take these fuckers out." _Snapping out of cover, he fired three bursts from his SMG. He felt a familiar sense of satisfaction as two of these new aliens fell down, unmoving, and a third stumbled, a blue shimmer seeming to break into pieces around it—much like glass. "_Shields? Damn!"_

Zaeed whistled as he watched this new soldier expertly gun down two of the Collectors and take another's shields down. "Kid knows how to handle himself, I'll give him that." Leaning over the beam he was situated behind, Zaeed fired another burst at the Collector whose shields had been taken down, effectively killing the alien.

"Less talk, more killing these guys!" Shepard briefly stood up and sent a Warp at the nearest Collector, ripping through the beetle-like thing's shields and knocking it down. It didn't move again. She was forced back down as a flurry of rounds hit her shields, lowering them to dangerous levels. Jacob leaned out of cover and fired his shotgun twice, bringing another two Collectors down. "Agreed, Shepard. Looks like there are only a handful of them left. Weird, they usually fled when they only had this few remaining. Why are they staying?"

Shepard took a moment to think about that. Indeed, these few remaining Collectors weren't fleeing, and unlike before they seemed to have no strategy to their attack. Which could only mean…

"Guys! These Collectors are the only ones left and don't have any leader. It should be quick to take them down." She stood up again and fired a burst, taking another Collector down. By this time, there were only three left. Shepard prepared to fire off an Incinerate from her Omni-tool, when…

_Bam!_ A loud explosion rang out from the midst of the three remaining Collectors, and an eerie blue cloud consumed the three Collectors, and then disappeared, leaving them dead with burn marks over their organic tissue. Shepard turned back to the Sergeant with an incredulous look in her eyes.

The Rookie smiled with glee under his visor, then frowned. He had failed to stick one of the aliens with it, was his last plasma grenade left, as he had used the others when he was still on Beta Centauri. He wasn't sure where he was now, but it seemed the curious contraptions of the former Covenant still worked as magnificently here. Turning towards the other three, the Rookie stopped when he saw the utterly surprised looks on their faces.

"…"

"What was THAT?" Shepard briskly walked over to the Rookie, the dead Collectors completely forgotten. She stopped directly in front of the Rookie, eyes wide. Jacob and Zaeed were at her side, curious written all over their faces.

"…"

"Are you going to speak?" Shepard loosened up a bit. She might have scared him a _bit._

The Rookie awkwardly shifted under Shepard's hard gaze. They didn't' know what plasma grenades were? Now he was _really _confused as to where he was.

Shepard took a half-step back, crossing her arms. "How about you come with us? We need answers, and you obviously don't know where you are or where you're going to go."

The Rookie thought about it for a brief moment. On one hand, he didn't know these people and where their allegiances were. Just hopping onto a ship with them wasn't the best idea. Then again, neither was dropping from orbit into the middle of things that didn't have smiles on their faces. On the other hand, he didn't know where he was, what he was going to do, or what happened before he landed here. He slowly shrugged, unsure what to say. It was a better idea to go with this strange woman, but still...

"I take that as a yes. Come on, follow us. You have some explaining to do." She walked off, Zaeed and Jacob following her.

The Rookie shrugged again, then walked after them.

_**Author's Note: Well, that's chapter two! Hope you guys enjoyed it. I feel the last part with Shepard confronting the Rookie over the Plasma Grenade was a bit…off.**_

_**And concerning a few things. I think the UNSC would have plasma grenades after the Human-Covenant War, since they now have the Sangheili as allies. Right? Right?**_

_**Also, since this is my first fanfiction story, I wanted to get your opinion on something. I have no experience WHATSOEVER at writing romance, but a couple of my reviewers showed interest in that. If so, I plan on doing a Tali/Rookie, but I want to get my reader's opinion on this. What do you think? And I also might need someone to look over those romantic portions, as I don't want to screw it up terribly.**_

_**Concerning Shepard: FemShep, Sentinel with Incineration using Assault Rifle because fuck it.**_

_**And on the matter of language: It's going to be mild, nothing too serious and not too common. :)**_

_**So, enjoy! I'm planning on uploading weekly for now, and then I might slow down a bit later.**_ _**And the chapters will DEFINITELY get longer. I'm aiming for 2000-4000 word chapters.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: Hey, guys, again. Hope you guys are doing good. **___

_**So, it seems that most of you are, once again, happy with the story so far. That's music to my ears, and I'm glad it's mostly positive so far. Also, I hope most of you saw the edit on Chapter 2. It was tiny, yes, but I feel it closed up the chapter much better than the original ending did.**_

_**Also, a few of you have told me that you wanted me to either create a name for the Rookie instead of using asterisks, or omit it altogether. So, for the single time I'm using the name from here on out, I'll make it up.**_

_**Now, onto the story.**_

Chapter 3

"Are you ever going to take that helmet off?" Zaeed looked at the newcomer, speaking in his low, gravely accent. Since the botched mission on Horizon where Shepard's crew had also encountered the newcomer, they had boarded the Shuttle and were en route to the Normandy. Since then, James, as his name was, had still not taken off his black helmet, and was looking down at the floor before Zaeed had spoken to him.

The Rookie merely shook his head, and then looked back at the floor, back in his quiet daydreams. This new vehicle he was in was entirely foreign to him, and the fact that it merely _floated_ instead of having to use any sort of engine or thrusters, as was the case with the beloved Pelicans, baffled the Rookie.

Jane Shepard shifted uneasily. She had tried to make conversation with the Sergeant, but when she had used his name, he hadn't responded at all. She decided to question him on that.

"So, Sergeant. What's with you not responding to your name?" she asked. In response, the man just looked over to her, his face hidden behind that black visor of his.

"I'd rather you just call me the Rookie, or Rookie for short."

"You don't look like no Rookie to me," Zaeed mentioned. And he was right. The way this 'Rookie' had fought the Collectors didn't show any signs of him being new to battle. In fact, it suggested the complete opposite. "So why do you want us to call you that?"

The Rookie shrugged, again giving a nonchalant, silent response. That was starting to annoy Shepard—just a bit.

The rest of the shuttle ride was met with silence, with the only sound being the shuttle's quiet humming.

_An Hour Later, on the Normandy_

"What do you mean, he's not in any records? Citadel? Alliance? Omega?"

Jane Shepard was looking at her Executive Officer, Miranda Lawson, as the uptight Cerberus Officer tapped away at the keys on her computer. Currently, Miranda was, on request from Shepard, checking all known databases for any clues as to where the black-garbed stranger known as 'The Rookie' came from. And it seemed the man, who was currently in the CIC waiting for Shepard, was nonexistent.

"I don't know, Shepard. It seems your friend is not real, according to the databases. There's a few with his name on the system, but none that match him. We should talk to him; get him to talk about it himself. I still don't trust him, Shepard." Looking up from the monitor, Miranda crossed her arms and leaned back, projecting her message very well: Be cautious with this stranger.

"Alright, Miranda. I guess I'll do that" Shepard said as she walked out of the room.

"_Not in any records or databases? Where could he have come from? Not to mention that little grenade of his, or his weaponry."_

As she neared the elevator, Jacob walked out of its doors, a genuine look of confusion on his face.

"Ah, there you are, Shepard. I was looking for you" Jacob said.

"What do you need, Jacob?"

"It's about the new guy. Or rather, his guns. After we got on board, I asked him if I could briefly take a look at his guns in the armory." Jacob scratched his head. "He let me borrow them on one condition: don't mess with them. It's strange, neither Zaeed nor Garrus have ever seen them before, and I haven't either," Jacob's brows were furrowing. "There's nothing on it on the extranet, and no 'Misriah Armory' either. That's the manufacturer, apparently" Jacob said.

Jane Shepard raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Soldier or merc, any firearm he had would show up on the extranet, as well as the manufacturer. "That's interesting. Anything else?"

"Yeah, Shepard. His guns aren't eezo based. In fact, they're like the old gunpowder and bullet guns of old. Primitive, yeah, but even that would show up somewhere on the extranet, never mind the cost to maintain and get ammunition for a gun like that."

"Wait, you're telling me it's a gun that old?" Shepard now had a look of utter disbelief on her face.

Jacob eagerly shook his head in an almost frantic 'no'. "That's not it, Shepard. Those guns seem_ new._ Our omni-tools are saying they were manufactured not too long ago. If so, this guy is…I don't know, really."

"Alright, Jacob. Thanks, I'll be sure to ask the Rookie himself. He's waiting in the CIC right now, and I've got Miranda coming as well." Shepard nodded her head and continued walking into the elevator.

"_This is really starting to bother me. Not in any records, uses primitive guns, yet his armor's pretty advanced, too."_

The elevator opened to Yeoman Kelly talking—or rather, _trying_ to talk to the Rookie. It didn't seem like he was giving any vocal responses, and for a moment Shepard thought she saw anger in Kelly's eyes. Or frustration.

"Ah, Commander. I was just trying to get the Rookie here to talk. But he's not saying anything!" Yeoman Kelly frowned, a genuine look of confusion and frustration on her face. Something Jane Shepard never thought she would see on the usually cheery crewman.

"That's fine, Kelly. But I need to steal him for a bit, okay? We need to give him a briefing, as well as ask him a few questions."

"Aye aye, Commander." Kelly turned back, although reluctantly, to the vidscreen next to the galaxy map.

Commander Shepard then turned to the Rookie, who, though still in full body armor, was clearly annoyed by the chatty Yeoman.

"Alright, Rookie. Come with me to the Comm room. My XO will be joining us, as well." The Rookie merely nodded.

As if on cue, the Elevator opened to a one Miranda Lawson, looking uptight as always. The three of them walked to the Communications Room, where Shepard and Miranda stood on opposite sides of an elongated table in the middle, facing the Rookie.

"…Rookie, this is my executive officer, Miranda Lawson. She and I have some questions for you, and you obviously have some for us, too."

Miranda leaned back on one foot and crossed her arms, her face inquisitive. "First off, who are you affiliated with and where did you come from?"

The Rookie frowned under his helmet. It seemed this would be another long session of _talking._

"Ma'am, I'm a Sergeant in the UNSC. That's United Nations Space Command for short. It's the ruling body, both militarily and politically, of Earth and all of her colonies." He stopped to let that information sink in Shepard and Miranda's heads, but they both had confused looks on their faces.

"UNSC controlling Earth? You must be mistaken, Sergeant. Earth is governed by the Human System's Alliance, which is, in turn, a part of the Citadel. The Citadel is…a collective of different species in the galaxy that are under the jurisdiction of the Council."

Now the Rookie was confused. System's Alliance? He had never heard of that before. But at the notion of the Citadel and Council, his eyes narrowed. It sounded _too_ much like the Covenant. Even if humans were a part of this.

"Ma'am, with all due respect I know where I come from. I was born on Luna, in Crisium City."

"There's no colony on the moon, Rookie." The Rookie turned to face Miranda Lawson, who had a doubting and suspicious look on her face. Shepard turned to Miranda with a stern look on her face.

"Miranda, I suggest you let Rookie tell out his story" said Shepard. Turning back to the Rookie, Shepard motioned for him to go on. He took the cue.

"Well, like I said, I was born on Luna. At eighteen, I joined the UNSC Marine Corp. A bit after that, I was asked to become an ODST" At this, Shepard motioned for the Rookie to stop.

"What's an ODST?" she asked.

"Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, ODST for short, ma'am. We drop from high orbit in pods to land among, behind, or directly facing enemy lines and fortifications. We…" the Rookie trailed off as he saw the incredulous looks on the two officer's faces.

"You drop from orbit? That's suicide!" Miranda, for the first time Shepard had seen, had broken out of her cool shell with this new tidbit of information. The Rookie merely shrugged.

"I admit, many have called it that before. But it's effective, and that's what counts." The black helmet tilted to the side, obviously inquiring without words if he could continue his narrative.

"Go on."

The Rookie sighed quietly. Talking this much was starting to annoy him, but for his own sake, and not to mention Shepard's, he had to continue. "At the time, humanity was in a galactic-wide war with something called the Covenant."

"And what was that, may I ask?"

The Rookie hesitated for a second. The topic of the Covenant was still haunting to him, even though the war was finally war. "A collective of religious aliens, hell-bent on wiping out mankind after they claimed we were enemies of their religion."

Shepard was intrigued, and yet, confused. She had never heard of this "war," and something like that would definitely be known to everyone. She and Miranda would let him continue, even though they had serious doubts on this man's sanity. "Is this war still going on?"

"Long story cut short, no. And I don't want to talk about it more than I have to. I've already talked more than I would have liked" said Rookie.

"So, all in all, you were born in a city in a non-existent colony on a moon, enlisted with a non-existent military, and participated in some big war that you managed to end." The Rookie slightly nodded, not agreeing with the "non-existing" parts. Shepard continued, "Now, Rookie, unless you have any evidence to prove your claims, I may just have to turn you into the nearest Alliance psychiatric hospital."

"I may have some evidence, though it's probably not of high quality" said the Rookie.

"And what's that?" Shepard raised an eyebrow, questioning him.

Looking at the door for a second, the Rookie sighed. It looked like he would have to finally take his helmet off. Grabbing at the base of the helmet, there was a slight hiss as the helmet slid off, to reveal the Rookie's face. _"God, I haven't done this in a long time."_

Jane Shepard took a good look at the Rookie's face. The Rookie had an unusually pale complexity—probably from keeping that damned helmet on all the time. She wasn't sure why he wore it all the time. He was a bit good-looking, but there was nothing that would cause him to want to keep it on.

"So, why are you taking the helmet off, Sergeant?"

The Rookie frowned, feeling naked without his beloved headgear. "All UNSC military personnel's helmets keep footage and recordings of events. Identification, finding out what happened to a soldier, those kinds of things." He paused to reach into the helmet's interior and press on a button. "If it works, then I can show what happened before I ended up on that…planet…"

"Alright then, show us" said Shepard.

The Rookie pulled out a small chip from the inside of the helmet, and raised it up for Shepard and Miranda to see. "I'll need to connect or interface it with something. Your…omni…tools should work." He handed the chip over to Commander Shepard, who promptly pressed a few things on her orange omni-tool and projected an image. It was a video recording of some sort, seen from Rookie's view, presumably.

"_Alright guys, listen up! Command wants us up and ready for a hot drop in ten minutes!"_

Shepard watched intensely as the recording projected an image of soldiers in similar armor to the Rookie's milling about. Though the video was completely still, Shepard could hear a slight, quiet snoring coming from the helmet itself. Smirking ever so slightly, Shepard thought of the one reason why that noise would be resonating.

Again, she watched as another man, big and seemingly of Hispanic descent, walked over to where the video was being filmed from.

"_Wake up, buttercup. We're dropping in ten."_ Shepard smirked a tiny bit wider, her suspicions confirmed. The video continued to play, and for convenience's sake Shepard sped the video up to a point where it looked like those metal pods were being prepped for…something. From the Rookie's occupation, probably for a launch. The trio watched as the Rookie's pod, along with a multitude of others dropped from what looked like a ship, heading for a planet below. Miranda had a completely bewildered look on her face.

The pods in the video finally hit the surface of the planet, though it seemed like there was only a minor jolt. It was nighttime on this side of the planet, and some distant figures could be seen in the distance. A hand, obviously the Rookie's, reached for a set of bolts around the corners of the pod's viewing window, and said window was promptly launched violently off of the pod, hitting some hairy figure in the distance. The Rookie moved forwards, already at a fast run, a gun matching the Rookie's popping up occasionally to fire at either unclear or unseen targets. Blue and green bolts of what seemed like light or _plasma,_ flew at the ODSTs, and the humans responded with flurries of yellow tracers. The video continued the same, with a fierce battle raging.

A voice rang out from the continuous sounds of gunfire. _"Rookie, fucking take cover right now!"_ The video panned up to the sight of a large green blob rushing its way to the Rookie. Shepard cringed as the green plasma hit the Rookie in the video, emitting a loud banging noise as the video was sent spinning. However, unlike the same, dark environment the Rookie was just in, the scenery suddenly showed vibrant sunlight and green and amber grass. The video seemed to hit the ground, and stopped. A trio of figures could be seen in the corner of the recording. "_Jacob, Zaeed. Any idea who this guy might be?"_

Shepard widened her eyes in surprise. "That's seems like us! On Horizon!"

Miranda was visibly bewildered, but tried to hide it. "It could be a fabrication, Shepard. We need more."

Jane Shepard shook her head. "No, no one could create something like that. I'm...I'm inclined to believe the Rookie."

"Ma'am, I think I have a theory on how I got here" said the Rookie.

"Then say it, Rookie."

"I think that the fuel rod cannon—"The Rookie was interrupted by Miranda.

"Fuel Rod? Is that what hit you in the video?"

"Yes, ma'am." The Rookie turned back to Shepard. "As I was saying, I think that when the cannon hit me, it took me somewhere unexpected. I should've been dead when I got hit by that thing, vaporized."

"So, why aren't you dead?"

"Ma'am, I think…" the Rookie paused. This whole notion he was about to explain was tiring him even by _thinking _of it. "I think the energy released from the explosion may have…propelled me into another dimension, or universe. Or something."

Now, Shepard was _really_ confused. Inter-dimensional traveling was impossible. Even the Protheans couldn't do it! "Sergeant, that's a big thing to claim."

"I know, ma'am. But that's the only explanation."

"Yes, I think I believe you. Surprisingly enough." Shepard sighed. This was turning out to be bigger than she had expected. She originally thought the Rookie was some sort of mercenary, or something. Someone caught in the middle of things on Horizon. Not…an inter-dimensional jumper. "Rookie…I have a question for you."

The Rookie merely nodded.

"Since you're not from this galaxy, or dimension, or whatever, you obviously have nowhere to go. Nevermind the fact that you don't know _where_ to go. So, I have a proposition." Shepard paused to let the Rookie think briefly about that. "Recently, a mysterious and obscure species only known as the Collectors started abducting human colonists from fringe worlds. And _only_ humans."

"Were the aliens on that planet Collectors?" The Rookie inquired.

"Yeah, they were. My crew and I are on a mission to investigate these disappearances and put an abrupt stop to them. So, do you want to join me?"

There was no hesitation. The Rookie nodded. Shepard was right, he had nowhere to go and nothing to do. He might as well tag along, as It would give him a chance to save lives and find out more about this new galaxy with a guide.

Jane Shepard was pleased. "Good. Now then, I'll need some time to ponder what you just told us. So, I want you to report to Doctor Chakwas in the med-bay. I want an in-depth medical examination on you. After that, hang around the ship and distract yourself. I'll call on you soon for a further briefing. Dismissed."

The Rookie nodded, and for the heck of it, saluted. Putting his helmet back on, he briskly walked out of the room. The Rookie set off on a journey to first _find_ the med-bay, and then hopefully have a small examination that wouldn't be too invasive. Hopefully.

_**Author's Note: Well, there's Chapter 3 all said and done. Hope you guys enjoyed it.**_

_**Yes, I know, the Rookie talked too much this chapter, but I couldn't do much about it. He has to talk to explain his origins, right?**_

_**As always, constructive criticism is good and welcomed. Please, do not hesitate to inform me of discrepancies, errors, bad grammar/writing, etc.**_


	4. Hiatus Note--Will be Back

_**Hey, guys and gals. DanishCookie here.**_

_**Now, you're probably thinking, "oh, the Cookie from Denmark has this whole author's notice thing, he's probably gonna make some excuse as to why he can't write this story anymore."**_

_**And you wouldn't be far from the truth.**_

_**EXCEPT**_

_**I WILL NOT be abandoning this story, by ANY means. I WILL come back to it, sooner or later. But it WON'T be a too long. Maybe a few months, maybe a few weeks. Who knows?**_

_**As to WHY?**_

_**I'm just not getting much inspiration for this story, and it's at the back of my head right now. My head is full of other ideas, mostly on larger scales—not just a single character being plopped into another world. I have a few ideas. Just, I have no real motive to write Rookie currently.**_

_**I BEG FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS. PLZ DON'T HURTZ MEH.**_

_***Dodges flying potatoes, knives, and Weapons of Mass Destruction(s).***_

_**BUT LIKE I SAID. I WILL COME BACK.**_

_**I DO **__**NOT**__** ABANDON STORIES. Quoting Edward Rutledge from the "John Adams" miniseries (well, if you're not American…okay), NOT NOW…NOT EVER!**_

_**Ahem.**_

_**So, all in all, I have no inspiration for Rookie, and I find myself going back and muttering in disgust at my previous chapters and I don't know what to write. BUT I HAVE OTHER IDEAS.**_

_**And I want you, the readers' opinion on what I should tackle before continuing with Deus Ex Machina.**_

_**Elder ScrollsxLord of the Rings, Dragonborn in Middle Earth.**_

_**ElderScrollsxInheritance Cycle, in which a Legion/Battalion/whatever finds themselves in Alagaesia.**_

_**HaloxMass Effect (I know there's a lot out there.), larger scale, post Human-Covvie War, strong UNSCxCovenant Seppies.**_

_**Planetside 2xMass Effect, after the end of the Great War of Auraxis "as I like to call it," two factions (likely TR and NC) set aside differences and destroy the third (likely Vanu, because **** Vanu.) Focus on rebuilding, industry, and humanitarian things like homes, society, etc. on Auraxis. Alternate timeline for humans in Mass Effect, TR on Earth discover Eezo, etc. etc.**_

_**So vote, which do you want? I know that in the state of my story currently, there won't be many votes, but I still want to get your opinion on things.**_

_**PLEASE. I BEG YOUR FORGIVENESS.**_

_**Vote on my profile. :D**_

_**DanishCookie out, but will be back.**_

_**P.S. If you guys want me to, I can upload what I HAVE written of chapter 4. It's…bad/okay, but if enough people want me to, I will**_


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